Living in an Olympic City – part 4 – Main road to/from Heathrow to stay closed

Last weekend I wrote about a problem with the main road to and from Heathrow, from Central London. The problem, news reports tell us, is that there is a crack in the metal holding up the flyover. It was supposed to re-open today. However, BBC news is reporting here:

The Highways Agency has said it expects all work to be finished before the
start of the Olympic Games.

It claimed that due to the complexity of the operation more time than
originally envisaged is required to complete the work safely.

The main influx of Olympic family members arrive on Monday, 16th.

More from Miles from Blighty

Comments

First, I’m familiar with London’s western exit/entry M/A4 route. It’s bad in good times. That in 2012 the road hasn’t been improved since it was first built is nothing short of a commentary on the sorry state of Britain’s road infrastructure. The A4 viaduct stretch – the part closer to London – is only 2 lanes each way, much of it without a breakdown lane, old and dangerous especially in the dark or wet, a real nerve wracking drive. Will be interesting to see the chaos next week. Just more on top of the horrific mess that UK Border and Customs is at Heathrow. London was awarded the Olympics years ago and they’re just figuring out that one of the main access highways is crumbling along with the need for more border personnel. But the elites could care less as they have their privileged access lanes. The rabble will just have to suck it up. All those headed to Heathrow in the next weeks should take the train instead, avoid the M4 at all costs.